July 9, 2009

Deja Vu

For those of you who have known me for a while, I have a very special toe.

During my junior year of high school right before Christmas break, I was at school at 5:30 am lifting weights with the drill team. I took off a 45 lb. plate from a machine and was putting it back on the rack. I put in on the rack where there wasn't much room and next thing I knew the plate dropped directly on my left foot- mainly my big toe.

I broke my toe and had to have several stitches. When I broke the toe I broke my nail bed and so when my toenail grew back (several painful months later) it was pretty deformed and ugly :(

I have lived with this for the past 7 years and it has caused me trouble every now and again. While in Utah about a month ago, my mom, sister and I got pedicures. I was pretty sure I had an ingrown toenail but after the pedicure there was green puss - so I definitely knew it was infected. I endured the remainder of the trip and asked my obgyn at my next appointment.

He took one look at it and had a nurse make an appointment with a podiatrist for the next day. The podiatrist took one look at my toe and said "let's get rid of the nail". Truthfully, I didn't mind, anything to get me out of pain. Little did I know that the shot to numb the dumb toe was the most painful part! And as doctor lingo goes, he said I would only experience mild discomfort after he removed the nail. Yeah right! Last time I had this done I was happily taking Loratab and thanks to baby boo I was only able to take Tylenol. Luckily I was only in pain for about 2 days. The Dr. has "hopes" that when it regrows it will be normal- but if not, we will be able to do something different when I am no longer pregnant.


The painful day of removal. I have a picture of my initial break in 2001 that looks almost exactly like this.


Trying to remove the bandage two days after surgery. The bandage was stuck so I tried soaking it for a while, but eventually Dr. Jayson had to gently rip it off (otherwise I would have soaked it for days and never gotten it off- there's just something about inflicting pain on yourself).

*
What we are dealing with now. It actually looks a little better than this. It is not so red now and instead is a little more scabby. Lovely, I know.

*Try to remember that it is hot and humid here and I am 33 weeks pregnant. I am aware that the toes are a little swollen.

11 comments:

Mackenzi said...

I've had to get a shot in my toe before and it really hurts so bad. That's not fun, hopefully it will grow back better for you. :) Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy!

Unknown said...

ok I totally remember that incident! Sad! That was a bad morning for you at drill :( And now to have trouble again sucks. Feel Better :)

Bob, Emily, Ellie, and Kate said...

I hear those shots are awful. You are a brave woman. It was great to see you in Utah, you are one cute pregnant girl!

Alisha said...

Ouch!! I'm sorry! That's no fun at all!! :(

The Smiths said...

Don't get me wrong... I love your toe and I love looking at gross scabs, but I can hardly believe this is blog-worthy! :)

Primary said...

Oh Shelby! I can't believe that was back in 2001. Where have the years gone? I am sorry you went through that, but I am happy I got to see Shelby again.

The Johnsons said...

Oh wow! I didnt get to see it in real life when you showed KJ cause I was driving. That looks SO painful. I am glad it's feeling better though!

The Bailey's said...

Thanks for the story! I love the little piggies (toes) They look great, mine looked like little sausages towards the end of my pregnancies. At least your nails are painted, I gave up trying to paint mine at 7 months. The gut just gets in the way too much!

Troy, Erin and baby Boston said...

Oh! This makes me cringe! That looks and sounds so painful! I hope it gets better soon, and I hope you and baby are feeling great.

RaCHeL said...

Oh dear! I am so sorry you had to deal with this toe again! Hopefully no more :) I hope you are feeling good! I wish you were here in Utah! Thanks for the bundle me, binki holder & pee pee tee pee! So adorable!

Jen said...

Awesome! I'll keep my fingers crossed that it grows back normal!